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Jazz in The Lobby Bar

This first class jazz pianist vocalist and her talented, creative bassist perform their impeccable, swinging arrangements: from Cole Porter to Waylon Jennings - with a few special guests, most notably Richard Kriehn from A Prairie Home Companion.

ABOUT THIS ALBUM

Album Notes

Bassist Jeff and I have been performing Jazz in The Lobby Bar at The Saint Paul Hotel, in St Paul, Minnesota, for seven years. The gig feels to me like playing at the Algonquin in New York. Our audience is very astute and we are always challenged to learn and play at a high level. It's a rare and incredible opportunity to perform all the music I love to do, which ranges from Dave Frishberg, Gershwin and Nat King Cole to Waylon Jennings and Madeline Peyroux. Jeff Brueske is an amazing bassist - creative and always swinging. I love these tunes and I love arranging them so the spirit of them comes through.

The Cd is beautifully recorded. I have gotten great feedback on it ("I LOVE the CD!!!"), in addition to the great reviews below. It has made many top ten radio lists nationwide and is popular internationally. I'm a Blossom Dearie, Diana Krall, Eva Cassidy, anyone who sings well … fan. As a pianist I love Oscar Peterson, Erroll Garner, Mose Allison, Dr John, Glenn Gould, … there is so much to listen to it's hard to list. One gets to be a compilation of all the styles you have heard and the life you have lived. I have my own style - people do tell me that.

Reviews:Rave Reviews for JoAnn's new Jazz in The Lobby Bar CD!

The album is near perfection – jazzy, breezy, contemplative even. I am especially taken by Funk – she has an appealing bedroom coquettish voice, like a modern Blossom Dearie – it’s instantly unique, recognizable, and intimate.She does the arrangements for these songs, and they are wonderful, making songs like “Someone To Watch Over Me” and “The Very Thought Of You” sound fresher than Minnesotan snow … Diary through the Arts Blog 7/9/15

She’s an accomplished pianist and a chameleonic vocalist. She can offer several different voices on the same song. She’s partial to a girlish coquette (the Marilyn Monroe evoking “Someone to Watch Over Me”) and a breathy balladeer (the country tinged “Anything You Ask”). .. she’s at her best with her more sophisticated vocals on “You Fascinate Me So”. ... Minneapolis Star Tribune Jon Bream 5/15/2015

Jazz in the Lobby Bar should engage audiences for years to come-- whether listening on personal audio equipment or in the comfy live setting of the Saint Paul Hotel, which just might be the best-kept jazz secret in the country. Although surely a recording, and talent, at this level can't hide for long. Nor should it. JazzPolice, Andrea Cantar 5/13/2015

.... Just when you think you never want to hear another version of “Somewhere Over the Rainbow,” along comes jazz singer and pianist JoAnn Funk with one so idiomatic and enchanting that it seems like a brand-new song. Her voice, her arrangements, and her timing are sui generis, and she has the ideal musical partner in bassist Jeff Brueske. The CD is named for the place they have performed most Fridays and Saturdays for the past seven years, the elegant lobby of the Saint Paul Hotel ... MinnPost Pamela Espeland 5/15/2015

JoAnn Funk is perhaps our answer to Diana Krall-- a first class pianist who happens to also have a first-class voice which she uses to cover a wide range of material, from the classics of the Great American Songbook to Brazilian, contemporary blues, pop and even country writers -- George Gershwin, Cole Porter, Blossom Dearie, Peggy Lee, Waylon Jennings, Leonard Cohen. JoAnn defies comparison-- she has hints of many but the sum is uniquely JoAnn. Bassist Jeff Brueske is an ideal foil ... Twin Cities Jazz Festival Highlights 5/15/2015